The country imported 5.42 million tonnes of soybeans in December, down 4.9 percent from 5.70 million tonnes in November, figures from the General Administration of Customs of China showed on Tuesday.
The December imports bring the country's total imports of the oilseed in 2011 to 52.64 million tonnes, down 3.9 percent on year. Annual soy imports decreased for the first time since 2004 after Beijing released the large volume of state reserves.
China's soy imports in 2010 rose 28.78 percent from 2009.
"Crushing margins were poor in December, but we still expect this year's imports should increase by at least 3 million tonnes over rising demand and expanded crushing capacity," said one industry analyst with an official think tank.
China has since late 2010 released 2.6 million tonnes of domestic soy, 100,000 tonnes of soyoil and 1.98 million tonnes of rapeseed oil from state reserves to cool food inflation.
China's soy crushing capacity is likely to increase by 12.5 million tonnes in 2012 to 125 million tonnes as crushers are expanding to try to take advantage of the country's rising demand for soymeal, the feed ingredient to make animal feed as the country's livestock industry is shifting to industrialisation.
Chinese soy buyers are still looking for soy cargoes for March shipment. They have booked enough for January and February shipment, with arrival in January seen at 4-4.5 million tonnes, traders said.
"If the drought situation worsens in South America, Chinese buyers may shift to US supplies for May to July shipments", said the analyst, referring to the peak South American sales season.
Dry weather should prompt the US Department of Agriculture to downgrade soy crop forecasts in Brazil and Argentina, the world's top and No.3 largest exporter, analysts said.
Official customs figures also showed China's imports of vegetable oils -- a majority of which are palmoil and soyoil -- were 730,000 tonnes in December, up 9.0 percent from the previous month. Imports in 2011 were down 4.4 percent on year to 6.57 million tonnes.